WHAT IS THE WORST CARBOHYDRATE FOR ORAL HEALTH AND HEART HEALTH -BLOG #66
Dr. Spiker Davis D.D.S.  713-781-2800    Dr. Matt Guerre D.D.S. 713-781-2800
In collaboration with Dr. John Seger M.D. Cardiologist 713-791-9444
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I believe the mouth is the WINDOW TO YOUR HEALTH. I also believe that as individuals we need to take care of our health-nobody else is going to do it for us.

Recently, I have had two patients that have had heart attacks.  Fortunately, only one died.  I have known both of these patients for a long time and visually, they appeared to be healthy.  Both patients seemed to be expected as far as their weight.  Both patients were on only a few medications but the medications they were on were related to heart health and high blood pressure.  However, if you looked at their oral/dental health both of these patients were not on the Olympic flossing team and both of them had unhealthy gums.  As you have heard me say many times, there is a huge link between gum disease and heart disease.  Also, both of these patients were past due for their cleanings so I would suspect that the health of their gums had gotten worse since their dental appointment.  The main reason that I bring this up is that you can exercise, and maintain your weight and on the outside, everyone wonders why this person died prematurely.  From a dental standpoint, I can come up with two reasons that most relatives and many physicians tend to overlook.  Let’s look at these two reasons and see if they make any sense to you.

1.    As you know, I am a big believer in the PALEO DIET.  There are several reasons for this, but in my opinion, the PALEO DIET is one of the healthiest diets around.  It is very similar to the Mediterranean diet except that it eliminates grains (such as bread, chips, and crackers).  In my case, my body has a hard time digesting corn products and that was causing me to have chest pain.  The second and I think the most important thing that it eliminates is SUGAR.  From most dentists’ standpoint, SUGAR IS POISON.  So, I wonder how many pounds of sugar my patients were eating when they had their heart attacks?  As I’m sure you know, SUGAR has a huge connection with heart health-Just Google SUGAR and Heart Health and see what you get!!!  So, my point is, YOUR DIET PLAYS A MASSIVE ROLE IN YOUR HEALTH and SUGAR IS POISON IN MY OPINION
2. As any dentist will testify, oral hygiene is crucial to your overall health.  Gum disease has many links to heart health, diabetes, cancer, premature birth, and on and on.  So, do you have gum disease?  The CDC says that about 81% of Americans have some form of it.  How do you know if you have it?  The best way to find out is to visit your dentist for an exam.  Most people do not know that they have it as it is usually painless until it gets really bad.  The number one sign that you have it is bleeding gums!  I encourage you to visit your dentist asap if you haven’t been to check out this condition.

Based on the above, how many people do you know that have died and seemed to be healthy?  Do you have any idea how much SUGAR they were consuming?  Do you know if they had gum disease?  Do you even know if they flossed their teeth?  My guess is that you have no idea.  My guess based on my patients would be that most patients are average.  What does average mean to you?  In my practice, the average American consumes 200 pounds of SUGAR PER YEAR-THAT IS 4 POUNDS PER WEEK!!!  I challenge you to write down everything you eat for one week and read the labels of everything and total up your sugar intake! I would also guess that only about 20% of my patients floss twice daily!  DO YOU FLOSS TWICE DAILY???  I challenge you to floss after breakfast and after dinner and then go see your dentist check on the health of your gums!

Now, guess what? Nobody is perfect and we all cheat some.  Even though I cheat some I have lost about 22 pounds, my cholesterol is normal and my blood pressure is around 100/65.  I wasn’t trying to lose weight, or lower my blood pressure or my cholesterol but it just happened as I switched over to this diet.  I would encourage you to do the same.  But, since we all cheat some, what is absolutely the worst CARBOHYDRATE that you can put into your body?  As you can guess, it has some sugar in it.  In my opinion, COLA is absolutely the worst thing that you can put into your body.  Most of them have about 10 tsp of sugar per 12 oz can.  If you just drink one cola per day, that is almost a pound of sugar per week or 50 pounds of sugar per year.  And unless you are brushing, flossing, etc. after every cola then you will probably have gum disease (Sugar feeds the bacteria that cause gum disease) and probably also have some cavities.  Not to mention, cola has many ADDITIVES and carbonic acid is what makes the bubbles.  The acid will also erode the teeth if it is diet cola.  Why don’t you Google “The benefits of Cola?” In 2020 The Journal of the American Heart Association looked at the association between Sugar-Sweetened beverages. The results were horrible and another study indicated that just one soda per day had a 38% increase in heart disease.

Please do me a big favor and eat a PALEO DIET or something similar, eliminate SUGAR AND COLA, and visit your dentist and your cardiologist NOW.

SUMMARY-It is obvious that your mouth is the window to your health.  Abnormal conditions in the mouth can be very indicative of other systemic health conditions.  In many cases, if your mouth is unhealthy there is a good probability that something somewhere else in your body also needs attention.  In today’s blog, I hope that I somehow convinced you that SUGAR IS POISON and you should avoid it at all costs.  No one is perfect and we all cheat some, but best you can try to avoid all SUGAR.  It’s never too late– Practice good oral hygiene, avoid sugar Go see your dentist, and get back on track with regular cleanings.  Follow that up by seeing your physician for a physical.

“THE MOUTH IS THE WINDOW TO YOUR HEALTH”. BRUSH AND FLOSS TWICE DAILY, AVOID SUGAR FOR 2022 AND SEE YOUR DENTIST AND PHYSICIAN REGULARLY.

Spiker Davis D.D.S. spiker@thepaleodentist.com John Seger M.D. Matt Guerre D.D.S.
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